Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 614 The land that cannot be given up

On August 1647, 8, the Port of Blanca landed.

Meng Hu jumped off the mule that had been riding for a long time, staring blankly at the shocking scenery not far ahead.There is a "desert" of white flowers, and in the middle of the "desert" is a huge pink lake.Menghu stands at a higher place, so he can clearly see the whole picture of the lake.

The size of that lake is not small, it appears to be hundreds of square kilometers - perhaps much larger.The water level in the lake is not high, the water surface is calm, and it is a weird pink color.The color depth of the lake is also different, some places are darker and some places are shallower, which seems to be the effect of some algae plants in the lake.These algae secrete a large amount of beta-carotene, which makes the lake water a rare pink color.

"This is the salt desert area reported by the Kelandi people. There are countless large and small salt lakes. The local Spaniards have also discovered this salt lake a long time ago. They call the largest one Salina Grandes, It means Great Salt Lake." Wang Dali leaned on a crutch and walked forward with one foot deep and one foot shallow, and said as he walked.

There are soft salt particles everywhere under the feet. Perhaps this area used to be the scope of the Great Salt Lake, but now the lake is dry, and a large amount of salt has been exposed by evaporation.Menghu took a deep breath, the smell here is very strong - the unique taste of the salt desert area.He grabbed a handful of loose crystalline salt on the surface and looked at it. The salt grains were rough, and there should be a lot of things like sodium sulfate mixed in.But this is not a problem. They can be separated one by one by using the principle of different solubility at different temperatures, and the content of sodium chloride in the salt in this place should far exceed sodium sulfate. I just don’t know if there are precious things like potassium salt in it. Well, I guess it's unlikely.

Different from the salt marshes in the coastal area, it is almost entirely a salt desert, and the soil has a high salt content. There are no other species of plants in the surrounding area except some low suspected Suaeda salsa, and there are even more animals. I can't see it either, as if it has become a forbidden area of ​​life.

"There are some reeds over there, maybe the degree of salinization is not very high." Wang Dali walked back to the shore of the lake at some point and said, pointing in the direction opposite to the Great Salt Lake.There seemed to be a swampy area, connected to the Great Salt Lake side by some small winding ditches.It can be seen that in the season of abundant precipitation, these small ditches should be filled with brine, connecting the Great Salt Lake with the swamp area.But now is the dry season, and the water level of the salt lake has dropped, so it has lost contact with the swamp.

After hearing Wang Dali's words, Meng Hu turned his eyes and saw that there was indeed a swamp area.The salinity in the swamp area should not be as high as that of the Great Salt Lake, because the color of the water there is relatively normal, and some plants grow occasionally in the swamp area. According to the terrain, they are reed, Suaeda salsa, plantain salina, and salicornia , Spartina alterniflora and other plants.It's just that there are still no traces of herbivores, and the water surface in the swamp is also a pool of stagnant water, without any waves.Occasionally there are some strong reflective things on the shore, and Meng Hu knows that they are salt blocks.

In the vast area outside the salt marshes and salt lakes, there is a salt desert.The ground in these areas is piled up with crystallized salt formed by geological changes over the years, and many of them have formed hard lumps.At this time, people only need to take an iron pick to knock it down, and then find a way to cut it into a standard shape of salt block, and then it can be easily transported out.

"This is a treasure house." Meng Hu looked at this strange world mixed with green, red and white, and couldn't help grinning: "The Kelandi people are right, this is a gift from the gods, It is a treasure created by nature. I heard that there are quite a lot of salt lakes and salt marshes in the inland areas of Argentina. There are not only ordinary sodium chloride and sodium sulfate, but also a large amount of potassium salt, borate and lithium salt. The development of salt chemical industry conditions are excellent.”

"What's more, the temperature difference here is relatively large, and the precipitation is not too much (600mm), which is very suitable for drying salt. Of course, we may not need to dry salt at first. The large amount of salt blocks on those salt deserts are cut and mined first. Besides, in a word, if it is won here, it will basically completely solve all the industrial salt and edible salt in our country, and even export a large amount. We no longer have to work hard to dry and cook salt in the country , so the efficiency and cost are too high.” Wang Dali also clapped his palms excitedly and said, “This inspection really opened my eyes, and it was a worthwhile trip. This is an endless treasure house, and at the same time, the scenery is amazing. This is so shocking, um, the inspection was a complete success, and I will write a report to the Government Affairs Council when I go back, suggesting that the Government Affairs Council take the lead in organizing some people to come here to set up settlements for the mining of salt mines."

During the conversation between the two, the assistants accompanying the team had already collected some typical salt mine specimens and stored them, all of which had to be tested and analyzed for their composition.In addition, they also collected a small number of plant specimens and lake water specimens, which will also be brought back for analysis and research.

The retrieved samples were placed and strapped to the mules.The road from the Port of Blanca to the Great Salt Lake is still slightly worse, with potholes, which may be related to the geological environment here.If you want to develop the salt mine here, then building a high-grade road must be put on the agenda. The railway is a bit extravagant, but an asphalt or even a gravel road is the minimum.

After the road is repaired, all the salt will be transported to the Port of Blanca through this road for subsequent processing, that is, it will be made into refined salt and sold back to the country.Of course, there are only 10,000+ people in the East Coast Republic today, and of course they cannot consume such a huge amount of salt, so using these salts to pickle salted fish is also a feasible strategy.Just south of Puerto Blanca is the traditional fishing area of ​​Argentina, where the warm Brazilian current and the cold Falkland current meet, bringing rich nutrients to the sea.La Plata deep-sea cod and squid are the two aquatic products with the largest catch here. In addition, tuna, calamari, mackerel, snapper and other fish can also be caught frequently. It is a fishery rich in resources. .

现在南海渔业公司的鳕鱼捕捞船和鱿钓船的数量一直在稳步扩大，每月渔获量也在迅速上升。截止上月（7月）底，南海渔业公司已经拥有8艘鳕鱼捕捞船、4艘鱿钓船和1艘综合补给加工船，月产鳕鱼2.5万条（约100吨）、滑柔鱼（阿根廷鱿鱼）40吨，另外还有约10吨左右的其他杂鱼。

This catch is already quite high, converted into an annual output of 1800 tons (it seems completely incomparable with the black water area backed by the fishing grounds of the Thousand Islands), so at this time, the Port of Blanca can be used as an important fishing port In summer, the fresh fish caught in the nearby waters can be roughly processed on the ship before being transported to the port for further processing; and if the temperature is low in winter, the fishing boat can even pull the caught fresh fish directly to the cloth. Lanka port for processing.The processed salted fish are graded according to size and weight, put into different wooden barrels, and then transported back to the country by large ships for sale. If the domestic consumption is not enough, it can even be shipped to Brazil and other places for sale. The profit margin is quite considerable .

All in all, whether it is the inherently superior geographical conditions of the Port of Blanca, or the abundant salt mine resources nearby, it is something that people on the east coast must seize and then quickly.Now that the port of Blanca has been occupied by the people on the east coast, the next step is to build strong castles and forts here to make them fortified, and then build settlements and a series of related industrial facilities to utilize the resources here.In short, this is a land that must not be given up!Even if there are peace talks with the Spaniards in the future to return a large area of ​​land along the Paraná River to the Spaniards, the port of Blanca, which is of great significance, must never be returned, because it is too important to the people on the east coast.

On August 8, after a tourist-like journey, the Great Salt Lake expedition team led by Meng Hu and Wang Dali returned to the small town of Port Blanca again.This town was opened up by the Spaniards two or three years ago, but it is more of a village than a small town, because except for a small stone two-story building (which has now been requisitioned by the East Coast Army), the rest of the It is a mess of chalets and thatched huts. The residents live by growing wheat and fishing, and they look very poor.

There used to be more than 100 Spanish settlers in the town, but now they are all subjects under the rule of the East Coasters. Fifty servants mixed with Gauchos and Kelandi are guarding the East Coasters here. This increasingly busy port.In the middle of last month, the local Ministry of Communications sent people to inspect the place. It seemed that they intended to renovate and expand the wooden pier here. The matter became yellow.

However, the excellent port conditions and important geographical location here are obvious. No, the navy has set up a small warehouse here, which is specially used to store edible salt, pickled fish, and pickled meat.In addition, they also set up a small sanatorium here to accommodate the wounded and sick who may appear in the next battle.After all, the westward advance is imminent, and the Port of Blanca is an intermediate node between the mainland and the Baleen Whale Port, so it can still play a lot of roles.

Meng Hu, Wang Dali and the others did not stay too long in the Port of Blanca. On August 8, a ship carrying supplies here returned to the mainland, and they took it back to Dongfang Port.And when the ship arrived and anchored in the Eastern Port, they suddenly found two ships flying the flag of the Republic of Genoa were quietly mooring in the commercial dock area.

(End of this chapter)